[Poster's note: Repeats of international articles already sent out to
the east-timor list (info@etan.org) have been removed.]

Tuesday, 16 January 2007

UNMIT ­ MEDIA MONITORING THE UN IINTEGRATED MISSION IN TIMOR-LESTE
DOES NOT VOUCH FOR THE ACCURACY OF THESE REPORTS

National Media Reports

Swearing-In Of Members of Commission

Members of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) were sworn-in
yesterday in a ceremony held at the National Parliament. Dr. Faustino
Cardoso Gomes, who was elected as the President of the Commission, told
the media that the team is composed of people with elevated capacity that
can carry the work effectively. One of the topics the commission would
discuss, is its own budget, said Gomes. Addressing the ceremony, Speaker
of the House, Francisco Guterres "Lu-Olo" reminded members of
the commission that the role of the NEC is to also assure equal treatment
of the citizens in the census and electoral process as well as equal
opportunities and the freedom for the candidates to campaign during the
elections. A total of 27 people, 15 effectives and 12 substitutes are part
of NEC. Bishop Basilio do Nascimento said the swearing-in of the NEC
members is a positive step towards the democracy process in Timor-Leste. (DN,
TP)

KOTA Doubts Fretilin's Win

The Statement of Fretilin's Secretary General, Mari Alkatiri affirming
that his party will win the 2007 elections with absolute majority has been
rejected by opposition parties like PSD, KOTA and UDT. Clementino do
Amaral of KOTA said he doubts Fretilin will win with the majority of the
voting, noting that politically, members of the parties can make such
statement provided that they do not distribute guns to destroy their own
people. Amaral further said the Timorese people have woken up and are
aware of the developments of the government in the country in the past
five years. (DN)

MPs Rejects CVA Recommendations

The recommendation of Comissao Verdade e Acolhimento, (CVA) for amnesty
to the authors of human rights violations in Timor-Leste has been rejected
by MPs Cipriana Pereira (Fretilin) and Maria Paixao (PSD). Both are of the
opinion that the sufferings of the victims should be considered and that
the authors must face justice. Pereira stated that the last decision would
be from the Parliament following consultation with the Timorese people on
the recommendation. Paixao said the justice process is the solution to
identify who had been right or wrong. (DN)

Court Proceedings

The presence of armed F-FDTL members in the court can be interpreted
that militarism is on the rise, said MP Clementino Amaral of KOTA. He said
solidarity shown to the three members of F-FDTL on their preliminary court
hearings by their colleagues in uniforms and armed, would give a bad image
to the country, hence appealed to Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak and
other officials of the Defence Force not to allow the same attitude to be
repeated.

Fr. Martinho Gusmao said the presence of armed members of the Timorese
Defence Forces in the court has violated the public services ethics. Jose
Luis Oliveira, Director of Hak Association is of the opinion that the
presence of some members of F-FDTL in the court last Friday in uniform and
armed, gives a negative impact to the country.

Three members of F-FDTL who had been on preventive detention requested
the Deputy Minister of Justice, Isabel Ferreira to speed up their case and
not to delay it like the case of Oan Kiak and Abilio Mausoko, following a
visiting meeting with them.

The three have expressed that their detention would serve as an example
to better the justice system in the country and want to seek the truth.
Following the meeting with the three military members, Isabel Ferreira
informed them that Brigadier General Ruak have asked two layers, Sanches
and Jose Guterres to take overt and focus on their case since lawyer Paulo
Remedios has a very tight agenda.

Timor Post reported that the court would call all the people whose name
has been mentioned during the trial in relation to allegations of
distribution of guns. Paulo Martins and police agent Pascoal Ximenes are
some of the people scheduled to appear in court. (TP, DN, STL)

Alfredo Schedule To Meet PM

Major Reinado Alfredo told Timor Post that he was scheduled to meet
Prime Minister Ramos-Horta on Tuesday as a continuation to previous
meeting to try and resolve the current crisis. He did not reveal the
agenda of the meeting, saying he was still waiting confirmation from the
Prime Minister's office. Questions have also been raised on the bazooka in
Alfredo's possession. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, 14/1, the
Australian Defence Force has lost a similar type of weapon from its
security centre and there are doubts it might have falling into the hands
of the terrorists. (TP)

Majority Of IDP's Are From The East

Based on the data from the Public Works Ministry, the majority of a
total of 3000 IDPs who have decided to return to the districts, are from
the eastern part of the territory, said Deputy Minister of Public Works,
Raul Mousaco. He said those who have returned included public servants who
hold jobs in the capital, adding the reason for their return is due to the
security situation. He said the government is working to strengthen
security in the neighborhoods.

Meanwhile Bishop Basilio asked why there continues to be the lack of
capacity to maintain law and order in Dili, despite the increasing number
of international forces and PNTL officers. Basilio said that in the
districts it has been peaceful but in Dili only four or five neighborhoods
has kept the capital awake. He added that many people have questioned that
if there are so many numbers of police including PNTL why can't they
contain the situation in Dili. (TP)

RTTL news headlines

Prime Minister returns to Timor-Leste from ASEAN meeting

Prime Minister Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta returned from ASEAN meeting in Cebu
Philippines. Speaking to journalists yesterday Ramos-Horta said that
Timor-Leste received a special invitation from the Secretary-General of
the Council of Ministers of ASEAN to participate in the meeting. "The
presence of Timor-Leste was important to prepare ourselves to be member of
ASEAN in the near future," said Horta. He also stressed that security
is an issued considered extremely important for any country to be part of
the ASEAN membership. Therefore he invites everyone in the country to fill
in the security requirement before joining the forum. During his visit, he
added that he met with 10 heads of States including both Presidents and
Prime Ministers and held a separate bilateral meeting with the President
of the Philippines to sign the cooperation agreement in the area of
education.

Two witnesses present their testimony in the court

Rogerio Lobato, the former Minister of Interior cour proceedings
continued with statements from two members of PNTL namely Carlos da Costa
and Afonso do Santos as new witnesses. According to TVTL, Da Costa was
asked by Lobato to distribute the uniform and cars to the group of Railos.
Do Santos was questioned by the judge on how he handled the petitioners
during the demonstration and the incident in front of the office of
Minister of Justice on 25 May 2006. At the time, Carlos da Costa was
serving as the messenger of Rogerio Lobato while Afonso do Santos was
responsible for PNTL Operational Command in handling the demonstration
held by the petitioners in front of the Palace of Government from 23 - 28
October 2006.

Preventive Prison for Lobato

The National Movement for Peace and Justice, expressed their
discontentment on how the court is handling the trial of Rogerio Lobato.
They lamented that why can't the court change the status of Lobato from
suspect to accused. The Movement spokesperson, wants the court to change
the status of Lobato from suspect to accused and put him in a preventive
prison in order to avoid manipulations of facts and other maneuvers as
well as protecting the evidence for truth and justice. They also demand
the court to immediately bring in the new witnesses like Mr. Mari Alkatiri
and Paulo Martins. The same movement suggested to the court to have a
professional translator in order to ensure clear translation message to
the victims, the accused, witnesses and those presence in the court
proceeding room.

International Media Reports INDONESIA: AMNESTY POSSIBLE FOR THOSE
BEHIND ATROCITIES IN EAST TIMOR

Jakarta, 15 Jan. (AKI) - Indonesian soldiers and militia accused of
atrocities in the former province of East Timor in 1999, could receive an
amnesty if they only admit their guilt and ask for forgiveness. Launching
the proposal is the "Commission for Truth and Friendship", an
organisation created by the two countries at the beginning of 2005 to help
them heal the wounds of the past through reconciliation.

According to reports in the Australian media, in the next six months,
the Commission is expected to invite 70 people to discuss what happed in
Dili, the East Timorese capital soon after the former Indonesian province
voted for independence in an United Nations sponsored referendum in 1999.

Reports said that civilian militia supported by Indonesian soldiers
killed at least 1,200 people and destroyed a large part of the
infrastructure in the small country.

Among the people expected to be invited include the former Indonesian
president B. J. Habibie, the East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao, and the
former head of the Indonesian armed forces, General Wiranto.

Experts have said that the Commmission does not have the power to
guarantee the amnesty but only to suggest it.

In any case, both Indonesia and East Timor have tried to remember the
past and look to the future and many believe that the requests have been
agreed to by both governments.

Indonesia invaded East Timor - now also known as Timor Leste ­ in
1975, with the tacit approval of the United States, Australia and Britain.

According to a report published by the Commission for Truth and
Friendship in October 2006, during the 24 years of Indonesian occupation,
183,000 Timorese were either killed, or disappeared or even died of hunger
following the operations by the Indonesian troops. (ADNKRONOSInternational)